Evaluation

The proposed IS architecture was evaluated, on order to recognize its utility, suggest improvements and validation. Thus, and in concordance with the selected methodology, interviews were conduct with specialist of information systems and technology, software engineering, innovation, computer science and artificial intelligence fields. The literature review conducted previously in this research served as base for the interview questions. They were made online thought video call using Microsoft Teams.

The selected specialist were: Prof. Dr.Gonçalo Rijo (GR) graduated in Electrical Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, also has an Executive Master of INDEG in Project Management and a MINI-MBA at ISCTE. Is currently attending a PhD at UTAD, investigating accessibility and artificial intelligence. Teaches Project Management and Entrepreneurship at various centers of the Nova University of Lisbon. He is an entrepreneur, in charge of a few companies and startups that develop innovative software.

Profª. Maria Anastasiadou (MA) is an Invited Professor and a PhD student at Nova Information Management School, University Nova in Lisbon in Information Systems Management with a specialization in Information Technologies, more specifically in Data science. Is teaching Artificial Intelligence at Nova Information Management School and has been working as an IT consultant for the past 7 years in governmental related IT projects, and she holds a first class with honors B.Sc. in Computer Sciences by the University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield UK, and a master´s degree in information management, with a specialization in Information Systems and Technologies Management from the University of Nova IMS in Lisbon, Portugal.

Drª. Sónia Arruda (SA) is a pharmacist with over 20 years of experience on the field. Has a B.Sc.

degree in pharmacy by the Universiade de Lisbon and is currently the head pharmacist at Farmácia Santo António in Lisbon, Marvila.

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6.1. I

After a brief presentation of the whole context and research, the participants were asked to respond to 3 questions to collect their insights and feedback (Table 8).

Table 8 - Validation Questions.

The selected question allowed to acknowledge if the information system architecture contained all the required features to provide the expected service and suitable improvements for future work.

Regarding question 1 (Q1), the answers were the following:

SA: It would be useful for many people who have access to a smartphone and the internet and who aren´t able to go to the pharmacy. However, many people who live in less developed environments and who do not find easy to understand and grasp the doctor´s indications during a medical

appointment would have more difficulties in taking and manage their medication.

GR: Yes, without a doubt if well implemented. We are currently in a digital era where ecommerce is needed and essential. I wouldn´t have any doubts in using such a service.

MA: The application and the service provided would be very useful. My only concern is regarding the difficulties that older people that are less familiarized with technology would have when using the application. As an example, my parents rely on other people for using this kind of applications and technology in general. The app should be as intuitive as possible. Although, I don´t have any concern that if well applied, the application would provide an asset for the overall community, if

implemented.

Q1 Do you consider the proposed information system (application) to be useful to common citizens?

Q2 What recommendations/suggestions would you consider improving the proposed architecture?

Q3 Do you have any comments on the proposed IS?

60 Regarding question 2 (Q2), the answers were the following:

SA: Clients should be given the information about the prices of available drugs and whether a specific pharmacy would be able to dispense all the medication in the prescription and not just part of it.

Apart from that it seems, from my point of view, that everything is in accord with some formalities that pharmacies must follow.

The fact that the stock would have to be updated manually by the pharmacies would not constitute a stumbling block since is a common practice in Portuguese pharmacies including the ones that I’ve worked on.

GR: I found your point of view very interesting. I have some concerns regarding this kind of services that need to be acknowledged because we are not dealing with the delivery of a simple product or a meal. Medication is a whole different and more sensible topic. It would be important to guarantee that antibiotics that are prepared by the pharmacies or certain medication that need to be

transported in some specific conditions. Those concerns need to examine and applied to make sure that the medication is delivered following safety and in the right conditions.

The certification that the medication is delivered to the right person and to the correct place. I was part of a project that consisted in delivering medication using drones. The main drawback that we had and that consisted in a hard problem to solve was to make sure that the medication was delivered in the correct location and to the correct person.

MA: The payment is something that is pivotal in every ecommerce platform. The payment process should be carefully considered since it deals with sensible data. I noted that the payment would be made via API. Is important to make sure that the required safety methods are guaranteed.

The communication between the pharmacist and the client should be always available at any time, even if the client didn´t fill an order. The pharmacist could give suggestions to the client according to their needs and symptoms providing a more customed service. That it´s a feature that I consider very important in this kind of services. An email communication channel could be added.

Also, the introduction of the Ip. citizen code could offer more validation and security.

61 Regarding question 3 (Q3), the answers were the following:

SA: Considering the idea as being particularly interesting and useful, I must add, based on my 20 years of experience in working in a community pharmacy, that it would be useful to have the dosage indicated by the doctor written in some way, in the packaging. That could help to avoid excessive contacts by patients.

6.2. D

After the evaluation of the artifact, a careful analysis of the given feedback was made in this section.

This discussion has its focus on the artifact utility, feasible improvements and observations made by the participant interviewees.

Regarding the utility of the artifact and the service provided, all participants agreed on the usefulness and convenience that this service would provide to society in general. However, all participants highlighted the importance would only be measurable, if well applied.

Specialist shared the same concerns and importance regarding the user-friendliness of such an application focusing on the needs but also, the characteristics of the target audience.

When developing user-friendly is essential to focus on the needs of the target audience, offering a great design, make onboarding easy, use push notification wisely and keeping the app intuitive and easy to use.

Concerns regarding grasping the doctor´s indications regarding the prescribed medication could lead to more difficulties for patients to manage their medication. Concerns were also raised about the difficulties that older demographics would have when using the application, aspect that could be mitigated if application user-friendliness is certified.

Concerning the improvements and recommendations, points were raised about different topics.

Specialist highlighted the importance of displaying and have a product catalog available for the client to know if the wanted products are available at a specific pharmacy. With this feature, clients could use the application as an information tool to go directly to the pharmacy, if pretended, and collect their products avoiding unnecessary efforts.

62 Concerns about the delivery process were also raised. Professor Gonçalo Rijo underlined the

importance and special cares that would be needed when transporting medication, bringing out the examples of specific antibiotics that are prepared by pharmacies and other meds such as, insulin for example, that would have to be transported in certain ways to guarantee the necessarily safety and quality requirements.

The delivery certification process was also a point raised by specialists. It would also be pivotal to avoid delivery mistakes and guarantee that order´s arrive at the right destination introducing more restricted procedures.

Payment’s process and security associated was also aborded. The payment processes would be provided by the integration of a payment gateway API, a mechanism that reads and transfer information from a customer to a merchant´s bank account. As design on the information system architecture, the payment gateway would be provided by an external entity via API. Specialist Profª.

Maria Anastasiadou emphasized the importance to guarantee the reliability of the chosen partner certifying that the service provided would keep the financial information secure through encryption or other protection methods.

Still regarding the suggestions, Profª. Maria Anastasiadou referred the importance to assure effective and available communication channels between the client and pharmacy to offer a more customized service allowing clients to share their needs and symptoms. It was suggested to add to the existing ones, an email communication channel.

To confirm the client’s identity, was also suggested the introduction of a validation method through citizen card Ip.

Additionally, Drª. Sónia Arruda highlighted, based on her 20 plus years of experience in community pharmacies, the importance to have, in some way, the dosage indications avoiding possible overload of communication channels.

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